TENNIS/US Open: Tim Henman continued to have treatment on his injured right shoulder yesterday, but there were apparently no further complications after his easy straight-sets first-round victory over Tuomas Ketola.
The British number one, fifth seed here, is due to play his second-round match against Belgium's Dick Norman today, although heavy and prolonged rain disrupted yesterday's schedule.
The 31-year-old Norman, who is a towering 6ft 8in, quit the ATP Tour for nearly two years in 1998, having failed to force his way into the top 100, despite reaching the last 16 at Wimbledon in 1995 when he beat two former champions, Stefan Edberg and Pat Cash, before losing to Boris Becker.
Norman has since gradually fought his way back via second-tier tournaments and club team tennis, reaching the first round at Flushing Meadows for the first time via the qualifiers. He lost the first two sets against Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic before winning 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6, 6-4. "I nearly gave all my hard work away," said Norman. "At 2-0 down I didn't believe in myself at all any more, but I kept fighting."
Henman, who is taking anti-inflammatories, is well aware that shoulder injuries can be career-threatening. "I've always trained very hard, but one of my shortcomings has been doing my stretching and strengthening exercises." He also admitted that the injury probably needed extended rest, which may put him in doubt for next month's Davis Cup tie with Thailand in Birmingham.
Without Henman, Britain's chances of winning the tie, and thereby remaining in the elite group next year,would decrease appreciably, putting all the pressure on Greg Rusedski who, by coincidence, plays Paradorn Srichaphan, the Thai number one, in the second round here.
The outfits of the Williams sisters, notably Serena's Lycra dress, has caused a stir, so there were raised eyebrows when Tommy Haas was asked by the tournament referee to change his sleeveless top.
"Basketball players wear sleeveless jerseys," said Patrick McEnroe, the US Davis Cup captain. "Men's tennis has got to get with the programme. Let the men wear outfits out there. It's double standards." One change the men's tour would do well to adopt is having the players' names on the back of their shirts, sleeveless or otherwise.
Meanwhile, World number one Lleyton Hewitt's $103,000 fine for refusing to do a compulsory television interview is likely to be reduced on appeal, ATP chief Mark Miles has said.
Hewitt was hit with the fine during the Cincinnati Masters earlier this month - half his runners-up prize money - for refusing to conduct an interview with host broadcasters ESPN before his first round match.
The player said he had told the ATP he would attend the interview "just to get it all out of the way", but that nobody had got back to his coach Jason Stoltenberg until it was too late and a fine was inevitable.
On Tuesday, Hewitt vigorously stoked his row with the organisers of professional men's tennis by branding the ATP liars.
"The ATP people were lying," said the 21-year-old Australian ahead of his appeal.
"It was always 'ATP spokesperson' ... no one ever wanted to put their name to it. I think a lot of people lied, I think that is a known fact," he said. "I've got no doubt that I'm going to win. There won't be a fine at all." Later Miles said that he expects the panel that considers such appeals to reduce Hewitt's penalty. - Guardian Service
